37112 Federal Register / Vol. 63, No. 131 /Thursday, July 9, 1998 / Notices

1See ‘‘Change in Minimum Oxygen Requirement

for Reformulated Gasoline’’ 62 FR 41047 (July 31,

1997).

UtiliCorp requests that the service

agreement become effective on June 25,

1998, in order to comply with the

Commission’s notice requirements.

A copy of this filing has been served

upon the Colorado Public Utilities

Commission and Basin Electric Power

Cooperative.

Comment date: July 15, 1998, in

accordance with Standard Paragraph E

at the end of this notice.

6. Central Hudson Gas & Electric

Corporation

[Docket No. ER98–3488–000]

Take notice that on June 25, 1998,

Central Hudson Gas & Electric

Corporation (Central Hudson), tendered

for filing a proposed amendment to its

Power Sales Tariff on file in Docket No.

ER97–890 to permit sales to its power

marketing affiliate, Central Hudson

Enterprise Corporation (CHEC). Central

Hudson has also submitted for filing a

Power Sales Agreement with CHEC.

Central Hudson requests waiver of the

Commission’s notice requirements to

permit the amendment to its Power

Sales Tariff and its Power Sales

Agreement to become effective August

1, 1998.

Comment date: July 15, 1998, in

accordance with Standard Paragraph E

at the end of this notice.

Standard Paragraph:

E. Any person desiring to be heard or

to protest said filing should file a

motion to intervene or protest with the

Federal Energy Regulatory Commission,

888 First Street, N.E., Washington, D.C.

20426, in accordance with Rules 211

and 214 of the Commission’s Rules of

Practice and Procedure (18 CFR 385.211

and 18 CFR 385.214). All such motions

or protests should be filed on or before

the comment date. Protests will be

considered by the Commission in

determining the appropriate action to be

taken, but will not serve to make

protestants parties to the proceeding.

Any person wishing to become a party

must file a motion to intervene. Copies

of these filings are on file with the

Commission and are available for public

inspection.

David P. Boergers,

Acting Secretary.

[FR Doc. 98–18205 Filed 7–8–98; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 6717–01–P

ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION

AGENCY

[FRL–6121–8]

Change in Minimum Oxygen Content

Requirement for Reformulated

Gasoline

AGENCY: Environmental Protection

Agency.

ACTION: Notice.

SUMMARY: EPA’s reformulated gasoline

(RFG) program contains various

standards for RFG, including an oxygen

content standard. When the RFG

program was implemented, the pergallon minimum standard applicable to

RFG in all covered areas was 1.5% by

weight. In 1997, pursuant to the RFG

regulations, EPA increased this standard

by 0.1% to 1.6% by weight for several

of the RFG covered areas (and for

certain refineries, importers and

blenders) because these areas failed a

series of compliance surveys for oxygen

content in 1996. Certain covered areas

have failed the oxygen compliance

survey series for 1997, and EPA is

increasing the per-gallon minimum

standard applicable to these areas by

0.1%. Since the previous increases

remain in effect, the per-gallon

minimum oxygen requirement in all but

one of these areas failing in 1997 will

increase to 1.7% by weight. This notice

announces the increased standard, and

describes the covered areas and parties

that are subject to the increased

standard. The increased standard will

help ensure that all covered areas

receive the full benefit of the oxygen

content requirement in the RFG

program.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Stuart Romanow, Fuels and Energy

Division, Office of Mobile Sources,

Environmental Protection Agency,

Washington D.C. (6406J) 202–564–9296.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. Regulatory Entities

Regulatory categories and entities

potentially affected by this action

include:

Category Examples of affected entities

Industry .... Refiners, importers, oxygenate

blenders of reformulated gasoline.

This table is not intended to be

exhaustive, but rather provides a guide

for readers regarding entities likely to be

affected by this action. This table lists

the types of entities that EPA is now

aware could be potentially affected by

this action. Other types of entities not

listed in the table could also be affected.

To determine whether your entity is

affected by this action, you should

carefully examine the existing

provisions at 40 CFR 80.41. If you have

questions regarding the applicability of

this action to a particular entity, consult

the person listed in the preceding FOR

FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT section.

II. Background

Section 211(k) of the Clean Air Act

requires that EPA establish standards for

reformulated gasoline (RFG) to be used

in specified ozone nonattainment areas

(covered areas). The RFG requirements

contain performance standards for

reductions of emissions from motor

vehicles of ozone forming volatile

organic compounds and toxic

pollutants.

Standards for RFG are contained in 40

CFR 80.41. Refiners and other parties

subject to the standards can choose to

comply on either a per gallon basis or

to comply on average. The standards for

compliance on average (‘‘averaged

standards’’) are numerically more

stringent than the per gallon standards.

The averaged standards for RFG are

contained in § 80.41(b). These averaged

standards include a per-gallon

minimum requirement of 1.5 weight

percent oxygen. This 1.5% per-gallon

minimum oxygen requirement initially

applied to all refineries, importers and

blenders of RFG who elected to comply

with the averaged standard for oxygen.

However, as a result of oxygen survey

series failures in 1996, EPA required

that certain refineries, importers and

blenders comply with a 1.6% minimum,

beginning on September 29, 1997.1 (The

survey process and the consequences of

oxygen survey series failures are

described below.) The per-gallon

minimum requirement is in addition to

the requirement for 2.1 weight percent

oxygen, on average. The average

standard for oxygen must be met by a

refiner or oxygenate blender for all of

the RFG it produced at a refinery or

blending facility, or for RFG imported

by an importer, but these parties are not

required to meet this standard for the

RFG supplied to each covered area

separately.

Any refiner, importer or oxygenate

blender has the option of meeting the

RFG standards on average or per gallon.

If a party is subject to the averaged

standards, then the requirement to

conduct surveys, as specified in § 80.68,

must be satisfied. In these surveys, RFG

samples are collected at retail gasoline
Federal Register / Vol. 63, No. 131 /Thursday, July 9, 1998 / Notices 37113

2 Letter dated January 30, 1998 from Frank C.

Lenski, President, RFG Survey Association, to

Charles Freed, Director, Fuels and Energy Division,

EPA.

3Letter dated March 4, 1998 from Charles Freed,

EPA, to Frank Lenski, RFG Survey Association.

Also see Memorandum dated March 20, 1998 from

Stuart Romanow, Mechanical Engineer, Fuels and

Energy Division to Charles Freed.

stations within covered areas and

analyzed to determine if the RFG

supplied to each covered area meets

certain survey pass/fail criteria specified

in § 80.68. An oxygen survey series

failure occurs in a covered area if the

annual average oxygen content for all of

the samples is less than 2.00 weight

percent. The purpose of the surveys and

the tightened standards which result if

a survey is failed is to ensure that

averaging over a refiner’s entire

production as compared to separate

averaging for each covered area does not

lead to the reduced quality of RFG in

any covered area.

Since the implementation of the RFG

program in 1995, these surveys have

been conducted by the RFG Survey

Association, a not-for-profit association

of refiners, importers and blenders,

using an EPA-approved survey design

plan as required in the regulations. By

letter dated January 30, 1998, the RFG

Survey Association reported to EPA the

results of its surveys for 1997, indicating

that several survey areas failed to meet

the annual average requirements of

2.00% oxygen by weight.2 After

reviewing the data EPA determined that

7 areas did fail the survey series for

oxygen content.3

The following covered areas failed the

oxygen survey series:

1. Baltimore, MD area [§ 80.70(g)].

2. Houston-Galveston-Brazoria, TX

area [§ 80.70(h)].

3. The entire State of Rhode Island

[§ 80.70(j)(12)].

4. The Dallas-Fort Worth, TX area

comprised of [§ 80.70(j)(13)]:

Collin County

Dallas County

Denton County

Tarrant County

5. Norfolk-Virginia Beach-Newport

News (Hampton Roads), VA area

comprised of [§ 80.70(j)(14)]:

Chesapeake

Hampton

James City County

Newport News

Norfolk

Poquoson

Portsmouth

Suffolk

Virginia Beach

Williamsburg

York County

6. Richmond, VA area comprised of

[§ 80.70(j)(14)]:

Charles City County

Chesterfield County

Colonial Heights

Hanover County

Henrico County

Hopewell

Richmond

7. Washington D.C. area comprised of

[§ 80.70(j)(2), (j)(6), (j)(14)]:

The District of Columbia

Calvert County, MD

Charles County, MD

Frederick County, MD

Montgomery County, MD

Prince Georges County, MD

Alexandria, VA

Arlington County, VA

Fairfax, VA

Fairfax County, VA

Falls Church, VA

Loudoun County, VA

Manassas, VA

Manassas Park, VA

Prince William County, VA

Stafford County, VA

The boundaries of the covered areas are

described in detail in § 80.70.

Under § 80.41(o), when a covered area

fails an oxygen content survey series,

the minimum oxygen content

requirement for that covered area is

made more stringent by increasing the

per gallon minimum oxygen content

standard for affected RFG subject to the

averaging standard by 0.1%. This more

stringent requirement applies beginning

the year following the year of the

failure. A more stringent requirement

remains in effect for a covered area

unless the area passes all oxygen

content survey series in two consecutive

years. Therefore, with the exception of

the entire State of Rhode Island, the

minimum per gallon oxygen

requirement for the areas listed above is

increased from 1.6% to 1.7% by weight.

The minimum per gallon oxygen

requirement for the entire State of

Rhode Island is increased from 1.5% to

1.6% by weight. In addition, the

minimum per gallon oxygen

requirement for the PhiladelphiaWilmington-Trenton area and the

Atlantic City, NJ area (Atlantic County

and Cape May County), which failed

oxygen content survey series in 1996,

remains at 1.6% by weight.

The criteria identifying the refineries,

importers and oxygenate blenders

subject to adjusted standards are stated

in § 80.41(q). In general, adjusted

standards apply to RFG that is subject

to an averaging standard (‘‘averaged

RFG’’) that is produced at a refinery or

oxygenate blending facility if any

averaged RFG from that refinery or

facility supplied a failed covered area

during 1996, or supplies the covered

area during any year that the more

stringent standards are in effect. The

regulation provides for an exception

based on certain volume limits [see 40

CFR § 80.41(q)(1)(iii)].

Thus, if a refiner has elected for a

refinery to be subject to the average

oxygen standard, and if even a small

portion of the RFG produced at the

refinery is used in an area subject to an

oxygen ratchet, the entire volume of

RFG produced at the refinery is subject

to the more stringent oxygen standard

regardless of which area receives the

RFG. This result is true regardless of

whether the refinery’s gasoline was

supplied to the city in question during

1997 or during a year when the more

stringent oxygen standard applies.

Under § 80.41(q)(2), the applicability

of adjusted standards to imported

averaged RFG is specified by the

Petroleum Administration for Defense

District (PADD) in which the covered

area is located and the PADD where the

gasoline is imported. The covered areas

that had oxygen survey series failures

are located in PADDs I and III.

Therefore, all RFG imported at facilities

located in PADDs I, II, III or IV is subject

to the adjusted oxygen standard. The

states included in each PADD are

identified in § 80.41(r). In addition, if

any RFG imported into any other PADD

supplies any of the covered areas with

oxygen survey failures, the adjusted

standard applies to that RFG, as well.

Under § 80.41(q)(3), any gasoline that

is transported in a fungible manner by

a pipeline, barge or vessel is considered

to have supplied each covered area that

is supplied with any gasoline by that

pipeline, barge or vessel shipment

unless the refiner or importer is able to

establish that the gasoline it produced

or imported was supplied only to a

smaller number of covered areas.

Consider, for example, gasoline

transported on the Colonial Pipeline,

which supplies RFG to several cities

that failed the oxygen survey in 1997. If

a refinery’s RFG was transported by the

Colonial Pipeline any time during 1997,

or any time during any year when the

more stringent oxygen standard applies,

the more stringent oxygen standard

applies to all RFG produced at the

refinery regardless of the market. In

addition, there is a presumption that,

due to fungible mixing, each refinery’s

RFG that is transported by the Colonial

Pipeline is in part supplied to each city

supplied by the Colonial Pipeline. This

presumption is rebuttable, but the

rebuttal normally would require a

refiner to have transported its RFG in a

non-fungible manner. Thus, the more

stringent standard applies to a refinery

whose gasoline is transported on the
37114 Federal Register / Vol. 63, No. 131 /Thursday, July 9, 1998 / Notices

4This supersedes the timing of the enforcement

of the downstream oxygen standards discussed in

‘‘RFG/Anti-Dumping Questions and Answers,

November 12, 1996’’. See question and answer

under topic ‘‘SURVEYS 11/12/96’’.

Colonial Pipeline regardless of whether

the refiner takes delivery of RFG in the

specific cities that failed the oxygen

survey.

The adjusted oxygen standard applies

to all averaged RFG produced by a

refinery or imported by an importer

identified in § 80.41(q). In accordance

with § 80.41(p), the effective date of this

change is October 7, 1998.

Thus, under § 80.41(p) the more

stringent oxygen standard applies at all

points of the distribution system

beginning on October 7, 1998, including

terminals supplying the affected

covered areas and retail outlets in the

covered areas. However, EPA believes it

may be difficult for all regulated parties

to transition to the new oxygen standard

by October 7, 1998. As a result, EPA

intends to enforce the new oxygen

standard in a manner that gives parties

additional time. Refiners, importers, and

oxygenate blenders will be required to

meet the new oxygen standard

beginning October 7, 1998. In the case

of parties other than refiners, importers,

oxygenate blenders, retailers and

wholesale purchaser-consumers, (e.g.,

pipelines and terminals supplying

gasoline to affected covered areas) EPA

will enforce the new oxygen standard

beginning December 7, 1998.4 In the

case of retail outlets and wholesale

purchaser-consumer facilities located in

the affected covered areas EPA will

enforce the new oxygen standard

beginning January 5, 1999. EPA has

initiated a rulemaking to revise

§ 80.41(p) to reflect the need for

additional downstream transition time

when a standard is changed.

Dated: June 9, 1998.

Richard D. Wilson,

Acting Assistant Administrator for Air and

Radiation.

Sylvia K. Lowrance,

Acting Assistant Administrator for

Enforcement and Compliance Assurance.

[FR Doc. 98–18080 Filed 7–8–98; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 6560–50–P

ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION

AGENCY

[FRL–6122–5]

Proposed Prospective Purchaser

Agreement Pursuant to the

Comprehensive Environmental

Response, Compensation and Liability

Act of 1980, as Amended by the

Superfund Amendments and

Reauthorization Act, National Mine

Tailings Pile Superfund Site, Park Hills,

Missouri

AGENCY: Environmental Protection

Agency.

ACTION: Proposal of CERCLA

Prospective Purchaser Agreement for

the National Mine Tailings Pile

Superfund Site.

SUMMARY: Notice is hereby given that a

proposed prospective purchaser

agreement associated with the National

Mine Tailings Pile Superfund Site,

located in Park Hills, St. Francois,

Missouri, was executed by the Agency

on May 13, 1998, and concurred upon

by the United States Department of

Justice on June 9, 1998. The Site is part

of an inactive lead and zinc mining area

known as The Old Lead Belt. The

agreement, between Classic Equine

Equipment, Inc. (‘‘the purchaser’’) and

the United States Environmental

Protection Agency (‘‘EPA’’), is subject to

final approval after the comment period.

The Prospective Purchaser Agreement

would resolve certain potential EPA

claims under the Comprehensive

Environmental Response,

Compensation, and Liability Act of

1980, as amended by the Superfund

Amendments and Reauthorization Act

of 1986 (‘‘CERCLA’’).

Under this proposed agreement, the

purchaser would be required to grade

the property, cover it with stone, gravel,

topsoil and grass and maintain the

integrity of the surface so that no mining

wastes remain at the ground surface and

the potential for erosion is minimized.

The settlement also requires the

purchaser to: restrict the use of

groundwater; limit human or animal

exposure to hazardous substances at the

Site; ensure non-interference with the

performance, operation, and

maintenance of any selected response

action; and ensure the integrity and

effectiveness of any selected

environmental response action,

including monitoring of groundwater,

soils, and sediments.

The purchaser is required to grant

access to the property to EPA, its

authorized officers, employees,

representatives, and all other persons

performing response actions under EPA

oversight. If the purchaser fails to

comply with the terms of the Agreement

and Covenant Not to Sue, the purchaser

would be liable for all litigation and

other enforcement costs incurred by the

United States to enforce this Agreement.

DATES: Comments must be submitted on

or before August 10, 1998.

ADDRESSES: Availability: The proposed

settlement is available for public

inspection at the U.S. Environmental

Protection Agency, Region VII, 726

Minnesota Avenue, Kansas City, Kansas

66101. A copy of the proposed

agreement may be obtained from Jack

Generaux, Remedial Project Manager,

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency,

Region VII, 726 Minnesota Avenue,

Kansas City, Kansas 66101. Comments

should reference ‘‘The National Mine

Tailings Pile Site Prospective Purchaser

Agreement’’ and should be forwarded to

Jack Generaux, at the above address.

For thirty (30) days following the date

of publication of this notice, the Agency

will receive written comments relating

to the proposed settlement. The

Agency’s response to any comments

received will be available for public

inspection at the U.S. Environmental

Protection Agency, Region VII, 726

Minnesota Avenue, Kansas City, Kansas

66101.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Dave Cozad, Branch Chief, Office of

Regional Counsel, United States

Environmental Protection Agency,

Region VII, 726 Minnesota Avenue,

Kansas City, Kansas 66101, (913) 551–

7587.

Dated: June 29, 1998.

Dennis Grams, P.E.,

Regional Administrator, Region VII.

[FR Doc. 98–18086 Filed 7–8–98; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 6560–50–P

ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION

AGENCY

[FRL–6122–9]

Internet Availability of 1996

Production/Capacity Data in the Sector

Facility Indexing Project

AGENCY: Environmental Protection

Agency.

ACTION: Notice of availability.

SUMMARY: The Environmental Protection

Agency (EPA) plans to include current

environmental information in the Sector

Facility Indexing Project (SFIP) as it

becomes available. To that end,

chemical release and transfer estimates

for calendar year 1996 are now available

from the Toxics Release Inventory. As

the Agency incorporates the 1996 TRI